blacksmithtech

"I can make anything except money and fix anything but a broken heart"

That looks painful - might just use it as is and keep looking for the next one. If you had to I suppose someone might try welding a plate on there but it's gonna be ugly. I'm no help on this one. I have fixed a couple edges and a horn with hard face rod.

well even a blind pig finds a truffle every once in a while :) I happened to helping out some elderly folks and noticed this prize in the corner of the garage. Offered good money for it but they insisted I take it cause they knew it would be used and not scrapped. Very humbling gesture and I'm very thankful.

Thomas - yes on the antsy part. When you are really excited about something like a free anvil you get itchy! Brought it home last night and had to wire wheel couple layers of paint to find out what it was. The underside is very rough - looks like others I've seen. The part that threw me off was the deep stamping, just didn't look right. Thank you all for the info -

ok - I'm antsy - a true character flaw :)

Hello - Brought this home today. I am familiar with some A&H anvils but had not seen one marked like this. It has the number "51800" on the left front foot, "300" on the right front foot. face is 5 1/4 inch across. It rings like a bell and has decent rebound. Any experts out there? Not sure if I sized these correctly - Thanks for the time.

"Blacksmith's can make anything but money and fix anything except a broken heart"

Keykeeper, I bought one of those hammer kits a couple of years ago. I took a hardware store handle and ground it to the shape I like and used 2 part epoxy to set the handle. No wedges. Made a nice little hammer and it has not come loose yet. Try it out and if it doesn't work right just hammer or drill it out and try something else. Take care -

Woody, Sorry to hear about the little one. She will be on our prayer list. Take care -

Mrs. Irn, Nice to meet you and I hope you catch the forging bug. Your husband has plenty of tools to get you started. You have your hands full with Jr ! Take care and welcome

Kenny, I was in the same boat as you. I found a decent anvil and all I did was worry about it not being flat enough, chips and dips. I even had it at a grinding shop to blanchard grind the face, luckily I went and picked it up before they got to it. I kept blaming the anvil for my problems till a much better smith came by and did some amazing work on it proving the problem wasn't the anvil! I would grab that anvil, clean up the face and try it out. You certainly are not going to stop with one anvil so make some room for the rest of the collection. Check around your area for other smiths, you might find one who knows how and has the tools to weld up that face. Get to it and have fun - Mike

Don, That looks like a nice blower - If you want to go cheap, try your local furnace seller. They usually have a couple of old units that are waiting for the scrapper. Talk to the man and see if you can get the exhaust blower. I have a couple and they work great for a forge blower. I let it run and use an adjustable gate to regulate the flow. Hope this gives you an idea - take care

First thing Ron - Don't be afraid to ask questions. It's the only way to learn. On making fire I put 3 sheets of rolled up paper in the firepot, then I place a small handfull of smashed up 1X2 pine. I give it a whack on the anvil to bust up and it gets the arm warmed up. Place some old coke from the last fire on one side and light. Small air at first then more as it heats up. Throw on some green coal and start working on getting a cave formed. Here are my most used fire tools - Small sheetmetal shovel, Grate poker for clearing grate holes during use (this one is made out of square stock and rake is round. This helps to identify by feel). The rake is used the most. round rod that is flattened and slightly bowed. Good for pushing and pulling fire around and keeping everything tidy.

Got a camera for Christmas so here is my demo hammer stand. Holds the swage and piece of rail. I have a mount that lets me put the cone mandrel on also. I need to add another layer of hammer rings to it next.

PWT - this is the one I have - you can get them under $40. Check out Hammer-ins , there are vendors out there with them.

A wonderful time of the year to reflect on the blessings we enjoy. Good times with family and friends . Looking forward to learning more about blacksmithing from my Iforge friends. Merry Christmas to all !